Method of constructing sea walls



Sept. 13, B. BROCKHURST METHOD OF CONSTRUCTING SEA WALLS Filed Dec. vl0. 1928 3 Sheets-Sheei; l

SSP 13, 1932 J. B. BROCKHLJRST 1,877,493

METHOD oF coNsTRUcTlNG SEA wALLs Filed Dec. 10, 1928 5 sheets-sheet 2 Iggy,

45 44 f Jy ATTORNEY Sept 13, 1932- y J. B. BRocKHuRsT 1,877,493

METHOD OF CONSTRUCTING SEA WALLS ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 13, 1932 'JAMES B.' BnooxHURs'r, ornrzn BANK, NEW 'JERSEY METHOD or coivs'rRUcriNs SEA WALLS VApplication led December 10, 1928, Serial No.-324,832.

This invent-ion relates to methods of building sea walls and more particularly to walls 'including a. plurality of heavy blocks of concrete or other suitable moldable material and' 5 piles arranged to guide them into and maintain them in position and to methods of producin such structures. j

In uilding sea walls, bulkheads, breakwaters and the like in which members such as piles are fixed substantially in parallel arrangement and with their axes in the same general plane and blocks are lowered between them and guided intoposition, it is difficult spacing of the guiding members, especially when these members are to be as truly parallel as possible and driven to a considerable depth and -in some cases through material presenting considerable resistance. For example, in correcting the spacing it would be necessary to shift the toe of the pile orxed member and this shiftingwould be very diicult if not impossible where the fixed member enters the ground or bottom to a considerable depth or passes through sandstone or other interfering material. In work of this kind as heretofore carried out it has been the practice to use blocks of uniform length. Obviously, in the event that the spacing is not uniform, the blocks will be too long fo-r some of the intervals and too short for others.

An important object of the invention is to provide a method of building a wall of this general type whereby such diculties'will be avoided.

Another important object is to providea novel and advantageous wall of the general type referred to above. Y

A further object is to provide aI method of wall building inwhich the blocks are `cast in situ between successive fixed members, to assure the proper lengths for the blocks.`

Another object is to provide a wall which will automatically adjust itself to changes in the level of materialat the bottom of the wall. According to a preferred form of carrying out the above objects of the invention a plurality of reinforced concrete piles having plane lateral faces parallel to their axes are if not entirely impracticable to obtain exact vallel to the axis of the beam or core.

arranged parallel to 4each other at intervals along the line of the proposed wall, and lixed :in position in vthe ground or in the bottom of y Such vertical piles, Vbeing a body of water. 'parallelv to each other and having their plane Vlateral faces parallel to their axes, are'adapt-- ed to serve as guides for blocks or wallse'ctions located therebetween. The wall sections are preferably cast inthe intervals between the piles and are therefore of the proper length. Each of these'sec'tionsfor blocks is shaped withina form of whichthe adjacent portions, substantially the halves, of the surfaces of the two adjacent piles constitute a part and serve to form grooves inthe otherwise plane endsl of Vthe blocks. The spaces between the fixed members or piles is Vthus practically vclosed and .a relatively tight joint assured.

' In order to enable the blocks 'thus' formed i to be lowered or to adjust themselves to their effective positions, either bondingl must be prevented o'rbonds` formed between contacting faces l,ofthe piles Vand blocks 'mustbe broken.A i The desired conditions in this respect may follow'as a result of natural vshrinking of the members, priorlubrication of contacting faces, separation byforce, orprior covering of contacting faces. In walls of g .placed between the sections.`

Accordingto one form of carrying out the fpile construction features of the invention, the pile isforined of a suitable core, lsuch asy an I-beam, a jetting tube arrangedl be- -tween flanges of the I-beam, flexible metal material (such as a cable) wound aroundfthe core, and cementitious material aroundthe coreV and flexible material and having plane lateral faces with their common edges par- The concrete at the lower end of the pile is made j ecting portion is provided with means, such asa hole inthe middle'lineof the central and water to flow therefrom as the concrete is poured with the form in inclined position with the air vents up, each vent being sealed yas soon as the portion of the form below thesame is filled.

With these and other objects in view, the present invention resides in certain novel features of the wall and wall elements andthe method of making such elements, which can best be -described in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of the Jform taken along the transverse diagonal plane separating the two angle iron sections;

Fig. 2 is a view in elevation of the assembled form;

F igJB is a top plan Vview of the complete form; p y

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view of the Vform at one of the vents;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line 5 5 of Fig. 8;

Fig. 6 is a perspective View of a block constituting half of the closure at the upper end -of the form;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of an end member 'of a form for casting a block;

Fig. 8 is a top plan View illustrating the connection of the I-beam cores of successive piles; A Fig. 9 is a top plan view, partly m section,

` or wall element during vtheremoval of t-he form and the lowering of the block into position; p

Fig. 13 is a top plan view of a completed wall, and

Fig. 14 is a view in elevation illustrating the completed wall of 13 extending ,out rfrom the shore line.

Referring to the drawings, 2O designates a pile embodying a preferred form of the invention and including acore 21 in the form of an I-beam of suiicient strength to sustain the bending stresses to which the pile is to be subjected, a jetting tube 22 extending :from `one end of the pile to the other at one side of the main web of the beam and between the corresponding flanges, additional concrete-holding and reinforcing means such as metal cable 23 wound helically around the beam' and secured at the ends in any suitable manner, and cementitious material or concrete 24 around the core, the jetting tube and the additional reinforcing means serving to give the proper contour at the outer surface of the pile.

Thepile alsoH has areduced or sharpened lower end to facilitate setting or driving and preferably this is, produced by tapering the concrete at the lower end of the pile uniformly, byfrmeansr'to be described hereinafter, from aV point slightly above the lower endof the beam to aA relatively sharp tip ata point below such end of the beam. In order that the pile' may conveniently be held vertically or in plumb, particularly for sinking by a jet of water supplied through the'tube 22, the I-beam 2,1 is provided at its upper end with an opening or hole 25 centrally positioned in the main web of the beam.

Oneimportant use of the piles of the present invention is that of guiding into and holding inv position wall members 4such as Yblocks or panels, located between successive pilesand combining therewith `to form a complete wall. Itis particularly important, therefore, to have the lateral surface of each pile cylindrical, that' is, generated by a straight line moving' parallel to itself and to the axis f of the pile or, in the preferred form, tothe core or I-beam. The cross section of the body of thepile may take differentforms vbut preferably it is in the general form of a regular polygon, such yas a square, and the lateral surface ofthe pile ismade Vup of a corresponding number of planesurfa'ces.

' Theform'ation of the cementitious material such as concrete raround the core and other elements may be effected in different ways but preferably by use of form sections adapted' to fit together along longitudinal lines. When the pile is of suitable cross section, it is desirable to build up the form from a plurality of angle iron members of suitable length and strength. In making a pile of square cross section such as illustrated in the drawings, u'se may be made of angle irons 26, each having webs of equal width` and positioned at a right angle to or perpendicular to each other. These angle irons areV of standard form and may easily be obtained, and preferably theyy have machined plane surfaces.

These angle irons are placed together, as illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4, and are then firmly secured together in any suitabler manner as by `a` suitable number of clamps 27. As illustrated, each of these clamps includes two clamping members 28 recessed or notched to receive substantially one-half of the angle iron body of the form and suitable means,

ity, of sections 31 and preferably is shaped at its interiorlto produce a pyramidal tip having the same-number of lateral faces as the body of the pile. Preferably the form is provided withventing means and, as illustrated in Figs. 2 and :4, this may bein the form of bores32, at the edge of -an angle iron, which may be closed by suitable devices, such as screw plugs 33 cooperating with internal screw threads in said bores.

. In makinga pile, the foi-mis assembled if not already inthat condition; the jet pipe or tube 22 is placed in position with reference to the core or I-beam 2l the cable 23 is wound helically around the I-beam and jet pipe and its ends secured in any suitable manner as by passing thenibetween the I-beam' and coils of the cable' intermediate its ends; the asse-mbled core, jet tube and cable are inserted in the form in` proper position; and concrete or othersuitable material is poured intothe form while it is supported in inclined position with the vents or bores 32 at the upper side thereof. Eachvent serves in succession from the lowest one up, to vent excess water and air and each one is closed by one. of the screw plugs 33 as soon as the concrete filling reaches that point. The form may be closed at the topby blocksy or closure membersV 34 (Fig. 6) each adapted to` fitin one of the angle irons on one side of the I-beam and having grooves 35 to-receive the'flanges of the beam andfa surface 36 set back from the edge surfaces 37 to allow for half of the thickness'of the main webV of the I-beam. `@ne of these closure members mayv be in the form during the filling operationv and the other inserted later,'both being retained until the concrete is suitablyY set. W'hen the-form is removed from thek pile the'V end of the I-beam will project from the concrete. After the concrete is set, the pile may be removed from' the form as by knocking down or disassemblingl the latter, the pile being cured as desired. In order to prevent the concrete of the pile from Vsticking' tothe form and therefore acting to resist separation and to injure the surface of theV pile, the angle irons or members may be coveredV in advance of the casting operation with any suitable material, preferably building paper or the like, to prevent such sticking. y

As illustrated in Figs. 9 to 14 inclusive, 40 denotes blocks or wall sections of which walls embodying a preferred form of the present invention are built in connection with fixed` members or piles, preferablysuch as'piles 20 hereinbefore described, arranged' at suitable intervals along the line of the-wall and parallel to eachother; This condition Yofparallelismis essential in'order-to obtain proper Y guiding.. action forthe blocksand to permit automatic adjustment of the latter in oase material is displaced beneath the same.

Preferably the piles' are set vertically. After V `.placing vthe piles in alignment and withthe openings 25 in the upper ends of-the I-beams substantially in alignment, a carefulV adjustment of the piles -in parallelism may be efj fected, as illustrated* in Fig.9,vby suitable means, such as a series' of rods 41, which may,

. in two successive piles,and the upper ends ofthe I-beams are drawntogether by means 'of nuts 42 engaging the outer sides of the webs of the I-beams. It will'jbe evident that `nuts might also be used at the inner surfaces of said webs. Inasmuch Vas the rod 41, shown in F ig. 9, ris of greaterle-ngth than the distance between the I-beams, the rods used in connecting these I-beams with the I-beams in the piles at opposite sides of thetwo shown in thisfigure are arranged Ato be'conn-ected with thevfirst mentioned rod 41 by means of turn-buckles 43,`and these rods may be consume, a preferred Aform .for casting such a `nected at theirV other ends with the corre- .block being illustrated in Figs. v9, 10 and 11..

When working on land above high 'water mark the form when placed about two piles ordinarily rests on the sand, but when working off shore and above highv water, the `form is supported above the water in any suitable manner, for example, bystringers 44 carried by posts. 45 set in the sand or other material, Y

or the-forms may be supported by the piles.

Preferably each form includes a plurality of beams or members 45a extending `across the stringers 44 and serving to support the floor members or' planks 47 which extend across all of the beams and to opposite 'sides of the piles 20 between whichthe block or wall section vis` to be cast. It will be seen that in the-*middle line of the form the ends of one-half of the piler at its inner side or Aa'suitable casing or spacing devicefthereon 'serves as a part of the structuredelining the inner surface of the form, cross members 49 exztending across the form in engagement at their centers with the outeredges of the piles and provided at oppositeA sides of the piles with pro'jectionsdO adapted to engage'the outer surfaces of the upright members lor planks 48 so as to hold the inner faces vof the members 48 in ,the vertical plane passing diagonally through the corresponding pile, horizontally arranged members 51 placed one above another at the sides of the form, vertically arranged members 52 at opposite sides ofthe form in engagement with theside members 5l, tie-rods 53 passing through the members 52 at their upper and lower yends Vand havingat their opposite vends nuts v5a theaded thereon to engage theouter surfaces of the members 52 anddraw the yopposite ones together so as to hold the sides ofthe form firmly in position, upright end members 55 engaging the cross-members 9, and held together at their upper and lower ends by tierods 5G and nuts 57 threaded on the ends of said tie-rods. Although the forms have been describedas supported on posts 45, it

will be evidenty hat 'the stringers 4 4 may be supported on the upper ends of the piles by transverse members 58`each engaging the upper endof a pile and Aconnected by means of tie-rods 59 and nuts 60 threaded on thevends` thereof with the stringers.

AAlfter the form'has been assembled in any position it is lined, particularly at its ends, by suitable material, suchV as sheet packing 6l. The sheet packingat the endsforms casings covering the surfaces of the piles Aand conforming to the shape thereof. Preferably the sheet packing has both faces of'irregular conformation with elevations and depressions and when'the concrete or other material is poured or caused to flowinto-the form, it will force thepacking againstthe plane surfaces of the pile and will enter the depressions at the surface of thepacking with which it contacts, so that the face of the block conforms with the face of the packing and when the finished block is lowered along the piles the concretev will carry the packing therewith. At the outer faces of the packing the elevations 'alone .will contactwith the piles and the surface o f the packing at the depressions will be out of contact with the piles. Friction of the faces will thus be reduced and relative .movement betweenthe pile and the packing will be 'facilitated by reason of-thereduced area of contact and also by reason of the depressions in the packing -forming spaces of 'refuge for the material Vabra-ded from the high spots during such relative movement anda-lso forming places of refuge for material 'from slight imperfections vand slight irregularitiesv inthe respective faces,including` "the substantially .plane face of the spile, which imperfections and irregularities ln-ightotherwise interfere with the relative-movement yof the faces by' causing them to bind. It shoul-dbe 'understood that the packing is applied at the sides and bottom of the formsfaswell as the ends, vinsuring a watertightpform bycovering the joints of lthe form..

In'oreer tto Aremover:thejbottom -of the form afterla block 40-vhas been casttherein, it is necessary to supportthe -newly formed block during theremoval'of theioor members, and such support may -be furnished in any. suitable manner-as by Ya cable or cables 62 placed across "the :floor members of the form beneath the .packing and passing downwardly betweenftheouter edges of A'the floor .and the lower members at :the sides of the'formf. The

sides of the form may be remo-vedby looseninthe nuts 54 ein-the tie-rods 5.3 and then the cable or cables 62 may be brought up around the sides of the blockasshownin Fig. 12 and the block supported ina-ny suitable manner as by a suitable derrick or crane. Then'the form may be disassembled or knockeddown to as great an extent as necessary and shifted to'another position.- l v Y It will be obviousthat after a form has been lfilled Vwith concrete that the concrete will I have to stand for a certain lengthoftimeto set properly. When the forms are, as in the present case, intended'to beset up at the shore and over the water insome cases, it is desirv.able and often-necessary to cover the top of '63.V TheI concrete may be protected in any *i other suitablemanner as by sheets of building fpaper. n

Then it is found desirable or necessary to constructla veryV strong lwall,'the tops of the I-beanis A21 ofthe piles may be connected with substantial rigidity by suitable means such as I-beamsll bolted or vriveted theretoasindicated in Figures 5 andS.v Inasmuchas the blocks are kep-t separate from each other and fromthe piles by suitable means such as L sheets of packing material, as already described, the blocks or wall sections 40 adjust themselves in accordance withthe supporting materialbeneath the same,and the vupper surfaces of-the blocks or the surfaces fof the uplper row of blocks would not be in the same horizontal plane., The present invention contemplates however-theprovision of a wall with'a uniform coping formed by concrete surrounding the I-beams tjand extending down into a groove, 65 formed inthe tops of the wallmembers or `blocks atthe upperedge of the wall. With `this construction there may be considerable settling of theblocks V without separation thereof from the coping relaas 66 formed-by the I-beams Gita-nd the concrete cast therearound. A convenient wayof forming the grooves 65 in the upper parts of the groove space 55 by a similar form including f the bottom 67 and the side 68. Later the bottom 67 and sides 68 of the grooved form may be removed and the concrete coping cast around the I-beams 64 so as to fit in the groove 65 of the upper blocks, being separated from the concrete of the blocks by suitable means such as packing paper.

The sections'or blocks 40 are of considerable size and weight, for example, each block may weight ten tons. The weight of the blocks may, however, vary in accordance with the pressure of the water or waves to be sustained. As a matter of fact the wall of the present invention takes a form in which the blocks are so heavy that they alone form a wall of which'the parts are very difiicult to displace.

It should be understood that the structure of the blocks may be varied in different ways, for example, at the end of a wall one block or a plurality of superposed blocks may be formed around a pile but separated therefrom by suitable means such as a casing or spacing means of packing material or paper.

The lower block at the outer end ofthe wall in Fig. lst is of this form. In some instances it may be found desirable to form the blocks of lower rows of greater width than the blocks of higher rows thus giving a broader footing and greater stability. ft may also in some cases be desirable to form hollow blocks which may be handled more easily and when in final position may be filled with concrete thus forming a solid'block.` The packing material applied at the ends of the forms and which adheres to the ends of the blocks serves not only to assure a slip joint connection between the blocks and the piles and between successive blocks but also to provide an expansion joint effect. It will be evident that, in the preferred form of wall, it

. is of very great importance to make the end faces of the blocks as nearly as possible'plane faces and adjacent faces as nearly parallel as possible, and also the piles as straight as possible; inasmuch as otherwise the blocks would not slide properly along the piles and tion and of the present claims, and accordingly the invention is not limited inthe respects specifically described herein, and illustratedin thedrawings. For example, the blocks or wall members may be cast around the guiding members or piles and may engage each other between the piles, the blocks being spaced from the piles byv suitable spacing means having such engagement with the piles as to ass-ure a stop connection therebetween. t

Having thus described my invention, 1 claim: c j Y l. The method of building a concrete wall, which includes xing a plurality of parallel members in vertical alignment, forming concrete blocks between upper portions of successiveparallel members so as to fittherebetween and extend laterally at each side of each of said parallel members in plane surfaces lyingin a' common plane passing substantially through the axis of such member,

and lowering each of such members until it adjusts itself in engagement with material .Y

beneath the same. Y

2. The method of building a concrete wall, which includes fixing. a plurality of parallel pilesin vertical alignment, providingforms between upper portions of successive piles to cast blocks ofgreater thickness than the piles and of length substantially that of the distance between the `axes of the two piles but having at its ends grooves receiving substan-V tially half of theadjacent portions of the piles, filling said lforms with concrete to form blocks, supporting each block independently of the corresponding form, and Vdisassembling the form .to permit ,lowering of such supported block to adjustitself in position.

3; The method of building a concrete wall, which includes fixing a plurality of parallel piles in vertical alignment, providing forms between upper portion of successive piles to cast blocks of greater thickness than the piles and of length substantially that of the distance between thejaxesof the two pilesbut having at its ends grooves receiving substantially half of the adjacent portions of the piles, placing alvsheet of packing material across each end of'each form,- filling said forms with concrete 'to form blocks faced with said sheets of packing, supportingeach block independently Y of the corresponding form, and removing the form to permit low ering of such supported block into engage-V ment with material adaptedjtoy support the same. J v "g Y 4. The methodfof building a concretegwall which includes xing a plurality lof parallel members in vertical alignment, saidmenibers having substantially straight plane faces, and casting concrete Vblocks between and against A suchv faces of successive parallel members so asto iit therebetween and be slidable thereon,

whereby said blocks may be allowed to adjust iio v themselves automatically with respect to the material beneath the same.

5. The method of building a Iconcrete wall which includes fixing aplturalirty of concrete members in vertical alignment, said members having substantially plane facesand casting concrete blocks between and -against such faces of parallel members so as to fit there between and be slidable thereon, all of said Y blocks extending laterally on each side of said parallel members in planes parallel to the axes thereof, whereby said blocks may be allowed to adjust themselves automatically with respect to the material beneath the-same. Y

6.v The method vof building a concrete wall which includes iixing a plurality of parallel members in vertical alignment, said members having substantially straight plane faces and ycasting concrete blocks between and against such faces of successive parallel members so as to Vlit therebetween and be slidable thereon in close relation to the face of adjacent .blocks all of said blocks extending laterally at each .all of saidblockszeXtending .laterally on each sidefof said parallel members with plane surfaces lying in .a common plane .passing subv stantially through the .axes .of :such members, wherebysaid `:blocks may be allowed to adgnst themselves :automatically with respect to the material beneath the same.

JAlVIESV B. BROCKHURST.

side of said parallel members with plane sur- ,A

successive parallel members .so as to fit therebetween and be slidable thereon, whereby said blocks may be allowed to adjust themselves automatically with respect to the material beneath the same.

8. The method of building a concrete wall which includes fixing a plurality .of parallel members in vertical alignment` said members having substantially straight plane faces, placing layers of packing material in contact with .the faces of said members and casting concrete blocks between and against the pack ing layers of successive parallel members so as to lit therebetween and be slidable thereon, allY of said blocks extending laterally on each side of said parallel members inplanes parallel to the axes thereof whereby7 said blocksmay beallowed to adjust themselves automatically with respect to the material beneath the same. Y

9. The method of building a concrete wall which includes lixing av plurality of parallel members in vertical alignment, said members having substantially straight plane faces, placing layers of packing material incontact with said faces and casting concrete blocks between the packing layers of successive parallel members so as to be slidable thereon in close relation to the faces of adjacent blocks, 

